Hanging shaft oe water-wheels



AM. PHOTO-LITHQ. C0. MY (OSBORNE'S PROCESS) UNITED STATES PATENT orrioE URIAH ATHERTON BOYDEN, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Y HANGING SHAFTOF WATER-WHEELS,'I&CL

Speccation of -Letters Patent No. 5,068, dated April 17, 1847.

T0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, URIAH ATHERTON BOYDEN, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Bearing for Sustaining Axles and Wheels, called the Self-.Adjusting Bearing, of which the following is' a full and exact description.

first referring to the annexed drawings,

which make a part of this specication.

Figure l is an isometrical projection of the bearing, axle, wheel and frame which suppo-rts them; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the bearing, axle and wheel cal section of the bearing, axle and wheel, parallel to the elevation, Fig. 2, andthrough the center of the axle; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of the axle and bearing, through so near their top, as to show the greater part of the' bearing in plan; Fig. 5 is an elevation of the bearing and part of the axle, perpendicular to the elevation, Fig. Q. And Fig. 6 is a vertical Section of the bearing and part of the axle, through the center of the axle, and perpendicular to the section Fig. 3. Fig. l is on a smaller scale than the other figures.

The same Small letters in all the figures, refer to the same parts.

s s is the axle, having the annular projections u, a, u, u, u, at its top; 'w is a wheel; d, Z are two bushes which nearly encompass the axle and support it laterally; the bridge piece c c rests on theframe 7L it, Fig. l, and sustains the two bushes d, al, and the selfadjusting bearing also rests on it; the screws Z, Z, &c., are turned through the bridge piece c c and serve for adjusting the two bushes ol, d.

b, b are two segments of a solid of revolution, each of which has the projections k, lo, f, f, and the small parts e, e, e, &c., Fig.

4. The lower part of the projection la is Fig. 3 is a vertiabout twice as thick as itsupper part;'aiid the lower surface of theprojection 7c, of the other segment, rests on the offset "or thick part of the projection lo. @Each segment has one ofV itslprojections c, thick Vat its,

lower part, so thatthe projection le of the other segment, rests on the thick `part or offset of k; this' keeps the two segments b, b,

opposite,y each other. The four vprojections 7c and c, le `and c,"form two vtrunnionsV orl pivots on which the seginentsb, b, when fastened together, can hinge or make'a partof a revolution, that is, they-can lean or ineline about an yaxis which passes through the surfaces of thesetrunnions which rest Y on the waved kring m m. Y

@,o, a, &c., Figs. 3, 4. and 6, are-alloy con*`- fined in the segments b, Zi, onwhich the annular projections u, u, &c., of the shaft', run; mf m, isa waved elliptical 'ring kor an elliptical ring of double curvature, which has two projections a, n; the trunnins and le", lo and s, bear upon and hinge onthis ring, and the two projections n, n bear upon and vhinge on the screws o, o; the two screws 0, o, are turned through'the irregular annulai' body p 7i, which rest-on the .bridge piece c c, and is movable horizontally on c c;

r, r, Figs. 3 and 5, are two nuts which Yare turned hard against the annular body 0" 29, to prevent the screws 0, 0, from turning; t, t, 25, t, are four screws by which the two segments o, o, are fastened-together.

The axle can revolve inthe segments o, b;

and as these segments so connected, can ins cline or hinge on their trunnions or pivots 7c and lc', and c, and as the elliptical ring m m, can incline or hinge on the ends ofthe two screws o, 0, as pivots, at right angles to the motion of thev segments on their trun-V nons, andas the segments with the waved ring and irregular Vannular body p p,- canV move laterally by the slidingo'f the body p 79, on the bridge piece c c, the segments o, b, when sustained in this way, willqmove j laterally and incline or lean freely in every- `V direction So as to adjust or adapt'them- ,j

selves to every position and inclination-of the axle; bearing.

hence the name, self-adjustingr Vles" i Y lk Y The Screws o, 0, serve for raising or low- 1 ering the axle; and as this bearing has the property of adjusting itself to any inclinai 11oV tion of the shaft, ythere is nov danger of causingv any binding of the axle, lor of `producing a greater stressxonrone `of the 'segg .-7 Y.

Y these screws, or by any unequal settling of the structure which sustains this bearing.

a, a', &c., are any metal or alloy suitable for enduring the friction of axles. An alloyof one part copper, two4 antimony and twenty tin, is suitable. And it 'may be wellA fixed in the segments by placing the raxle fjeetions u, u, `81,0., -may be well oiled by Vmeans of a siphon wick or filter, in contact horizontally and putting-the segments on their places about the axle, one being above and the other below the axle, andvpo-uring the meltedalloy into the lower segment; after which `the other segment mayV be `turnedbelow the axle, and the alloy poured into it in the same way as in the first; or

only one segment needv bein contact with the axle when the alloyis pouredinto the segment, if someother means be taken to insure .thev segments being sozplaced when the alloy` is poured, Vthatthe axle shall rest equally on the alloyV in each segment when they are screwed together about the axle,

and lput in use. Thoughr neither the formingV ofiannular projections on axles, or the fforming of surfaces for these projections to run on, bythe casting of any metal or alloy about j them, is claimed asV new, it seemed needful to describe this process minutely.

When the segments are composed of metal which the Valloy does not combine with or adhere to, itis well to haveprojecting parts i e, e, &c., Fig. 4, to hold it; but when the alloy adheres to the segments, these parts e, e, &c.,^are not needed. It is well to have the axle and segments of nearly the same temperature when the alloy is poured into the segmentsV and if the axle andsegments be iron, and the alloy composed as above, this temperature should not be much below the fusingl temperature of the alloy.

It is generally best to have so many an-V nularA projections a, u, u, u, u, on the axle, that there may be much more surface to Y their lower sides than is sutlicient to prevent their crushing or pressing the alloy out of its place by the weight or pressure 'of the axle, when the whole of the lower surfaces of the annular projections'bear upon the alloy. This may be done by only one annular projection of large diameter; but it is better to have several annular projections of small diameter. Supposing the alloy vbe composed as above mentioned, if there be.

about as many superficial inches in the lower sides of these annular projections, as there are hundreds of pounds pressure to sustain, will answer the purpose well. It is well to have the parts about the alloy so shaped that if one'of the pieces of alloy sustains too large a portion of the pressure of the axle, it may be crushed and spreadfa little, andits top thus `lowered a little, so as to let the pressure of the axle, be distrib-- uted more equally on the several pieces of alloy. YIt is best that thetwo segmentsb, 6,.

Vshould not quite encompass the shaft, that is, that their tWoapprO-Ximating edges on each side of the shaft, should be a little distance apart, to permit oil to How between themtollubricate' the annular projections. If the shaft be 5 inches in diameter, these two Vside passages may each be about one quarter of an Vinch wid'eA The annular prowiththe upper `surface ofthe highest annular projection.` `Tallo-w or other Vunctious substance, should be placed in Contact with the upper annular projection, within the segments, which will' melt and iiow on the annular projections, if they become `hot vwhile in use. Ifthere be holes througheach /of the annular projections, so that oilV can will beV rather more certain to be' completely oiled.

Itis well to have rings on the screws t, t, "t, between the projecting parts f and f, f' and f, and between the projecting parts k, and c, 7c and c, or to have these projections otherwise so shaped that they maybe fastened firmly together by' the screws t, t, z5., t, without pinching or binding the shaft. Itis well to have the lower side of the trunnions 7c and "la", 7c and 7c', rather above the center of the segments, or rather above the mean height of the surfaces of thealloy on which the shaft t-urns;- and to have the body, 7) 79, movable horizontally on the bridge piece a o, so that the segments b, Z), may not have any considerable lateral pressure against the axle.

I havingV abovefdescribed the form of the self adjusting bearing which seems to me as good as any, I will now describe the bearing more generally, having regard to its principles, rather thanits form. This bearing consists essentially 0f three parts, which I will call links. The first link being the segment 7j, 5, as fastened together, with their trunnons 7c and le', and 7c", the projectons f, f, f, j", the four screws which pass through the trunnions and projections f, j, f, f,A to

vdescend through them, their lower sur-faces j fasten the segments together, andthe alloy in the segments onwhich the annular projections of the shaft turn, and the projections e, e, Sac., which hold the alloy; The second link consists of the elliptical ring of double curvature fm, m, with its Projectlons n, n. The third link consists of the irreguiso ,lar annular body p p, the two seorews 0, o,

and the two nuts r, r. The yfirst link can hinge or make part of a revolution on the second link; and the second'link can hinge or make part of a revolution on the third link; the axis on which the second link hinges being perpendicular -to theV aXis on which the first link hinges, or these two axes diii'er considerable from parallelism, or they have not the same direction. VAnd the third link may slide or move laterally on whatever it rests upon. But the sliding laterally 'of the tliird'link on what it rests upon, may be dispensed with, and the slidingl may take placeibetween the iirst and second links, or between the second and third links, or at'both places. Or there may be no sliding` orvmovinglaterally of any of the links, if it be intended that the bearing shall resist lateral pressure.

Ihese being the properties of the bearing, it is evident that a variety of modifications ot' the form shown by the drawings, may answer the purpose. Thus, the upper parts of the tirst link, which are designed t'o hold tallow, may be dispensed with. Or the parts of the irst link may completely encompass the annular projections` so as to close the two side passages for oil, and the projections be oiled in some 'other way; for instance, by means of Cylindrical holes from the top or convex sides ofthe link, to the projections. This link may be fitted to the annular` projection, or annular projections, without the casting of any metal or alloy about the projection or projections. The screws t, t, &c., may be dispensed with, and the parts of this link kept together by a variety of other means; for instance, the projections 1 and c, 7c and 7e', may be of equal width and thickness and fitted into grooves in the second link. Instead of there being just two segments in this link to encompass, or nearly encompass the annular projections, there may be a different number. The second link, instead of having the form of an elliptical ring of double cuvature with projections n, n., may have a variety of other forms; for instance, it may be a plain circular ring kor it may be square; or it may have two projections for the first link to bear upon, the trunnions of the first link being dispensed with. The third link,

instead of being annular, may have a variety ofy other forms; `for instance, it may be square; or the two screws 0, 0, may be dispensed with.

Instead of having the two screws o, 0, in the third link, they may be in either of the other links. Instead of the third link being movable laterall on whatever supports it, to allow the first link to adjust or adapt itself laterally to the shaft; the first and second links may be so shaped that one can slide or move laterally on the other.; or the second and third links may be so shaped that the second can slide `or move laterally on the third link; or the whole three may be so shaped that the sliding may take placebetweenV the first and second links yin one direction, and the sliding between the second and third links, in some other direction, as

at right angles. The third link may be iixed or may be adjustable laterally by screws or other means, so that the first link can resist lateral pressure, if the iirst and second links,

and the second and third links,be so formed that Vone cannot slide or move laterally on another. It will also readily be perceived, that the constituent parts of the second link, as above described, may be repeated, and the character and operation of the bearing still remain the same.

, What I claim as my invention, and desire ta secure by Letters Patent, is-

soV

The method of sustaining axles, shafts l and spindles, and whatever else may press them downward or longitudinally, by means of the self adjusting bearing, consisting of the first, second and third links, as above described; whether the third link be movable or adjustable laterally on or in respect to whatever itrests upon or not; and whether the rst link be movable or yadjustable later-V ally on or in respect to the second links or not; and whether the second link be movable or adjustable laterally on or in respectto the third link or not.

I do not confine my claim precisely to the forms described above, but I extendl it to all forms which are essentially the same in character, principle and operation.

URIAI-I ATHERTON BzOYDEN.

Witnesses: Y

CALVIN BROWN, AUGUSTUS LORD HAVEN. 

